News & Public Affairs

Is Tampa prepared for the challenges the Republican National Convention will bring with it? It is according to Mayor Bob Buckhorn. Tuesday night was the first of three scheduled Town Hall meetings before the convention. It was at the Florida Aquarium on Channelside Drive. When the small conference room swelled to full capacity of around 100 people a second close circuit viewing area was set up to accommodate more than 100 others.

In less than two weeks the Republican National Convention kicks off in Tampa, and Big Brother will be watching.

Today on Last Call we talked with Jon Gales about the new closed-circuit surveillance cameras installed in Tampa for the convention. He has a new website called RNCCTV.com. It has a map of the location of dozens of the cameras.

We talked about why they are there and whether they might come down after the convention.

âShut up. Cops lie. Get a lawyer.â Thatâs the advice for Republican convention protesters if theyâre stopped by police. The succinct and bold summary came from an attorney during a National Lawyerâs Guild âknow your rightsâ training Saturday at the downtown Tampa library. Twenty-three activists, including Roger Butterfield, learned strategies for how to interact with law enforcement during National Special Security Events like the convention.

Good afternoon, welcome to The Last Call. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up we'll talk with Nancy Altman author of The Battle For Social Security. We'll talk about the selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan to be Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential running mate. Altman is part of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition. She says: "Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate starkly reveals that his values are not America's values. The American people overwhelmingly value our Social Security...

Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. Iâm Rob Lorei. Coming up today weâre going to talk with the vice presidential candidate of the Green Party Cheri Honkala who is in town this weekendâ¦
But first- what can we expect during the upcoming GOP Convention?
Two Tampa Bay Times reporters whoâve been covering all aspects of the lead-up to the Republican Convention at the end of the month in downtown Tampa. [TBT Coverage of RNC](http://www.tampabay.com/news/p...

Weâre still waiting to hear who Republican Mitt Romney will pick as a running mate; but we already know who the Green Partyâs Vice Presidential nominee is: Cheri Honkala. Sheâs the national coordinator for the Poor Peopleâs Economic Human Rights Campaign and was selected by presidential nominee Jill Stein to be on the Green ticket. Honkala is in the Tampa Bay area this weekend for a series of events.

St. Pete officials say they need to have safety and security measures in place while delegates and dignitaries are in town for the pre-convention party. But some people are concerned about the ordinance infringing upon residentsâ constitutional rights. Councilman Bill Dudley supported the ordinance, saying it is necessary to take all precautions.

âWe can nit pick and do all that stuff, but Iâm telling you, after something serious h...

Thursday morning Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn unveiled his proposed fiscal year 2013 budget to City Council; he calls it âChanging Tampaâs Economic DNA.â Itâs based on a small-government philosophy, avoiding a property tax increase, without laying off any current employees.

âYou should be proud of this staff behind me. They have done an amazing job in some very difficult times crafting this budget and putting this together on top of dealing with all of the other things that they de...

The Republican National Convention begins in Tampa in less than three weeks; areas of the city designated as the Event Zone and Designated Protest Area will bear additional restrictions. The ACLU of Florida hosted a panel discussion Tuesday night at the University of Tampa to screen questions about personal freedoms during the event.

The panel discussion between city officials and citizens was the [thi...